The Hangover

Roosters plucked
The Roosters were looking for their third-successive win to start the NRL season at ANZ Stadium on Sunday afternoon against a Bulldogs outfit that was yet to win after consecutive losses to the Knights and the Dragons.

Would anyone have guessed a 60-14 score line to the Dogs?

I'm happy to say I tipped the Bulldogs in the office tipping comp (but I also tipped the Knights and the Broncos who both got flogged).

The Bulldogs finally stepped up and showed why they were among the pre-season favourites to take the 2010 title. Five-eighth Ben Roberts took the line on, young gun Jamal Idris looked more composed in defence and fellow centre Josh Morris ran riot on the left side, scoring four tries.

For the Roosters, pretty much everything that could go wrong did go wrong, including this comical clanger from Martin Kennedy:



Goals galore in AFL
Speaking of big scores, the AFL season kicked off over the weekend to a fanfare of goals.

Carlton started the trend on Friday night, kicking 18 goals in its 56-point win over Richmond. Not to be outdone, reigning premiers Geelong booted 19 majors against Essendon, with Hawthorn scoring 17 six-pointers in a 117-61 thrashing of Melbourne.

On Sunday, Collingwood kicked 19 goals in an impressive 36-point victory over Western Bulldogs, while Fremantle thumped Adelaide 118-62, booting 17 through the big sticks in the process.

Brisbane's Jonathan Brown is the early leader in the race for the Coleman Medal after booting five of his team's 16 goals against West Coast.

The AFL's occupational health and safety department are set to be bombarded with claims this week from goal umpires suffering from RSI.

Kobayashi's wings clipped
It was a disappointing Australian Formula One Grand Prix for the Red Bull Renault team with a ninth placing and a DNF respectively for Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel after both started from the front row of the grid.

But spare a thought for BMW Sauber's Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi, who lost his front wing not once, not twice, but three times over the weekend.

The first two front wing incidents occurred during the first session of practice on Friday. Kobayashi struck a marker cone on turn 11, breaking the wing mount on the first occasion, while an unexplained failure caused the replacement wing to detach shortly after.

Kobayashi, in just his fourth Formula One race, qualified 16th on the grid but lasted less than a lap when his front wing again dislodged, causing his Sauber to spear into the cars of the unsuspecting Nico Hulkenberg and Sebastien Buemi at high speed.

Sauber technical data apparently indicated that Kobayashi made contact with another car or the kerb on turn three of the race, again causing front wing failure.

Perhaps Kobayashi should join Webber and Vettel at Red Bull. Apparently it gives you wings.


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